Totem Arro or Vandersteen 1C or Quad 12L.


Hey everybody, i'm trying to decide on a new system for my small room 13 by 15. I don't have access to hear any of these. I have heard the old Vandersteen 1s. I listen to mostly vocals, jazz, blues, and yes country. I was just wondering what would be the best overall speaker for me. Thanks for any help.
joeygrace321
Personally, I like Totem's sound. The Arro's won't match the bass of the Vandie's, but what they lack in low end they make up for with imaging. The Arro tends to disappear in a room. I haven't heard the Quad.

I recommend you listen to all of them
I can only speak for the totem's. I have owned the Hawks.Forests and the Winds. There is a big sound difference between the Forests and the Hawks. I didn't find out for almost two years that the drivers in the Wind and Forests are different than the Hawks. The dealer told me if you didn't like the hawks you will hate the Arro's
I have owned the Vandy 1Cs and feel they are one of the absolute best bargains on the used market. Never owned but have listened to the Arros. They were nice but didn't disappear the way the 1Cs do.
The Vandersteen 1C in my opinion will naturally reproduce Johnny Cash's voice better than most any Box I have heard.
Happy Hunting
Johnnyr
another vote for Totem - if you want more bass move up to the Sttafs - they will do really well in that room size, not cost much more than the Arro. I haven't heard the Quads, nor the 1C's but when I bought my Sttafs I a/b'd them with Vande 2es at length.
The Quad 12L has a "livelier" tonal balance than the Totem or Vandersteen; with anything other than classical, where the treble response reads as "air," I found them pretty quickly fatiguing--and my listening tastes run near to yours. That said, they do have great bass response and a GORGEOUS finish--I wanted to love them. I'd pick Totem, too, or the Vandersteens if you liked what you heard.
Thanks guys, I had dahlquist DQ-20s, long ago. I'm just trying to get something simular to them.